THE Boro dressing room could be a less cosmopolitan place next season after three of the club’s foreign legion departed this week.

Brazilian Fabio Rochemback, South Korean international Dong- Gook Lee and Spaniard Gaizka Mendieta all left for pastures new after Gareth Southgate decided not to offer them new contracts.

It was expected that the trio would leave after they failed to convince the management and the fans that they were worth a place in the starting XI.

Rochemback wasted little time in re-joining Sporting Lisbon, the club he left to sign for Boro in August 2005.

As Southgate recognises, the 2007/08 campaign was the 26-year- old midfielder’s best season with the club and he signed off with an excellent all-round game against Manchester City on Sunday.

Even so, his performances were still inconsistent, with the insipid display against Cardiff probably the last straw for the Boro hierarchy.

Explaining his reasons for not exercising Rochemback’s two-year contract extension, Southgate said: “Fabio enjoyed his time in Portugal with Sporting and I think he would agree that his playing style is probably better suited to football over there.

“I got to know Fabio much better after becoming manager and I enjoyed working with him.

“He came in for a lot of criticism at times because of his style of play, but he always wanted the ball and was clearly a very talented footballer.

“With his three-year deal coming to an end, however, I think it’s a natural cut-off for Fabio to move on and for the club to change things a little bit.”

Mendieta’s drawn out stay has finally ended.

It’s been a strange five years for the former £30m man who was once rated as one of Europe’s top midfielders.

When he arrived on Teesside a couple of weeks into the 2003/04 season, Boro were hailed for pulling off a transfer masterstroke.

Lazio had paid Valencia close to £30m for Mendieta in 2001 but he’d been unable to reproduce his outstanding form in Serie A and, after a frustrating loan spell with Barcelona, jumped at the chance to try his luck in the Premier League.

The initial deal was a season-long loan with the option of extending it a further four years, which is what happened.

Mendieta’s form was initially good and he played a key role in the Carling Cup triumph and Boro’s seventh place finish in 2005.

But serious injuries took their toll and his lack of mobility and pace limited his first team opportunities.

A suitable transfer away from Teesside never materialised so Mendieta was stuck in limbo for the final 18 months of his contract.

Happily settled in Yarm, it’s unclear what his next move will be.

Southgate said: “Gaizka’s not clear in his own mind what he wants to do next.

“But we shouldn’t forget the big part he played in us winning the Carling Cup.”

Dong-Gook Lee also faces an uncertain future after failing to establish himself as a Premier League force during his 15-month stay in this country.

It seemed whatever he did he couldn’t find the net and managed only two goals in total during his time with the club, both of which came in the cups.

Southgate believes the weight of expectation played its part in Lee’s failure to adapt.

“It never really worked out for Dong-Gook,” he explained, “and I felt it was detrimental to the team to play him once a section of the fans started to get on his back.

“Perhaps if he had scored earlier in his career with us, things might have turned out differently because he does have talent.”